Visually indicating on a user interface lengths, types of content, structure and current user location within a corpus of electronic content

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of visually indicating on a user interface of an electronic reader the lengths, types of content, structure and current location of a user within a corpus of electronic content are presented. The corpus of electronic content may be converted into contiguous visual sections and contiguous thumbnails (of the visual sections). The user interface includes a content strip tray displaying a viewable portion of the thumbnails and a main viewing area displaying a viewable portion of the visual sections. An accent effect may be displayed over the viewable portion of the thumbnails that corresponds with the viewable portion of the visual sections currently displayed in the main viewing area to indicate a location of the user in the electronic content. Additionally, headers, location markers, assignments and notes may be displayed on the viewable portion of the thumbnails.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to the field of systems and methods of visuallyindicating on a user interface of an electronic reader the lengths,types of content, structure and current location of a user within acorpus of electronic content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides systems and methods comprising one ormore server hardware computing devices or client hardware computingdevices, communicatively coupled to a network, and each comprising atleast one processor executing specific computer-executable instructionswithin a memory.

The present invention provides systems and methods of visuallyindicating to a user lengths, types of content, structure and currentuser location within a corpus of electronic content, while reading thecorpus of electronic content on an electronic reader.

The systems and methods may convert the corpus of electronic contentinto a plurality of contiguous visual sections. Each visual section, inthe plurality of visual sections, may have a length, based on a lengthof a corresponding visual section in the corpus of electronic content.As the lengths of the visual sections in the corpus of electroniccontent vary, the visual sections may have lengths that are unique,non-standard and/or of varying dimensions. Each visual section, in theplurality of visual sections, may have a type of content and astructure.

The systems and methods may convert the corpus of electronic content orthe plurality of visual sections into a plurality of contiguousthumbnails that correspond to the plurality of visual sections. Eachthumbnail, in the plurality of thumbnails, may be proportional in lengthto, and visually indicates a type of content and a structure of, acorresponding visual section.

The systems and methods may display, by an electronic reader, in a mainviewing area of a user interface to the user a viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections.

The systems and methods may display, by the electronic reader, in acontent strip tray of the user interface to the user a viewable portionof the plurality of thumbnails.

The systems and methods may display, by the electronic reader, an accenteffect over an accent portion, within the viewable portion of theplurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray. The displayed accentportion corresponds to the viewable portion of the plurality of visualsections in the main viewing area.

The above features and advantages of the present invention will bebetter understood from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system level block diagram for a non-limitingexample of a distributed computing environment that may be used inpracticing the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system level block diagram for an illustrativecomputer system that may be used in practicing the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a second viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a second viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in acontent strip tray; and 3) a second accent effect, displayed on theviewable portion of the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewableportion of the visual sections displayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 5 also includesan inserted header on the viewable portion of thumbnails that is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 6 also includesan inserted marker on the viewable portion of thumbnails that is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 7 also includesan assignment on the viewable portion of thumbnails that is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 8 also includesa content strip tray of a width different than the width of the contentstrip tray in FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 9 also includesa content strip tray of a width different than the width of the contentstrip tray in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface, displayed on an electronic reader,with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections displayed in a mainviewing area; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails displayed in a contentstrip tray; and 3) an accent effect, displayed on the viewable portionof the thumbnails, that corresponds with the viewable portion of thevisual sections displayed in the main viewing area. FIG. 10 alsoincludes a note on the viewable portion of thumbnails that is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a process that may be used topractice the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present inventions will now be discussed in detail with regard tothe attached drawing figures that were briefly described above. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are set forthillustrating the Applicant's best mode for practicing the invention andenabling one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention.It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without many of these specific details. Inother instances, well-known machines, structures, and method steps havenot been described in particular detail in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present invention. Unless otherwise indicated, like partsand method steps are referred to with like reference numerals.

Network

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting example distributed computingenvironment 100, which includes one or more computer server computingdevices 102, one or more client computing devices 106, and othercomponents that may implement certain embodiments and features describedherein. Other devices, such as specialized sensor devices, etc., mayinteract with client 106 and/or server 102. The server 102, client 106,or any other devices may be configured to implement a client-servermodel or any other distributed computing architecture.

Server 102, client 106, and any other disclosed devices may becommunicatively coupled via one or more communication networks 120.Communication network 120 may be any type of network known in the artsupporting data communications. As non-limiting examples, network 120may be a local area network (LAN; e.g., Ethernet, Token-Ring, etc.), awide-area network (e.g., the Internet), an infrared or wireless network,a public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), a virtual network, etc.Network 120 may use any available protocols, such as (e.g., transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), systems networkarchitecture (SNA), Internet packet exchange (IPX), Secure Sockets Layer(SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP), Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Institute ofElectrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 protocol suite or otherwireless protocols, and the like.

Servers/Clients

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-2 are thus one example of a distributedcomputing system and is not intended to be limiting. The subsystems andcomponents within the server 102 and client devices 106 may beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or combinations thereof.Various different subsystems and/or components 104 may be implemented onserver 102. Users operating the client devices 106 may initiate one ormore client applications to use services provided by these subsystemsand components. Various different system configurations are possible indifferent distributed computing systems 100 and content distributionnetworks. Server 102 may be configured to run one or more serversoftware applications or services, for example, web-based or cloud-basedservices, to support content distribution and interaction with clientdevices 106. Users operating client devices 106 may in turn utilize oneor more client applications (e.g., virtual client applications) tointeract with server 102 to utilize the services provided by thesecomponents. Client devices 106 may be configured to receive and executeclient applications over one or more networks 120. Such clientapplications may be web browser based applications and/or standalonesoftware applications, such as mobile device applications. Clientdevices 106 may receive client applications from server 102 or fromother application providers (e.g., public or private applicationstores).

Security

As shown in FIG. 1, various security and integration components 108 maybe used to manage communications over network 120 (e.g., a file-basedintegration scheme or a service-based integration scheme). Security andintegration components 108 may implement various security features fordata transmission and storage, such as authenticating users orrestricting access to unknown or unauthorized users,

As non-limiting examples, these security components 108 may comprisededicated hardware, specialized networking components, and/or software(e.g., web servers, authentication servers, firewalls, routers,gateways, load balancers, etc.) within one or more data centers in oneor more physical location and/or operated by one or more entities,and/or may be operated within a cloud infrastructure.

In various implementations, security and integration components 108 maytransmit data between the various devices in the content distributionnetwork 100. Security and integration components 108 also may use securedata transmission protocols and/or encryption (e.g., File TransferProtocol (FTP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and/or Pretty GoodPrivacy (PGP) encryption) for data transfers, etc.).

In some embodiments, the security and integration components 108 mayimplement one or more web services (e.g., cross-domain and/orcross-platform web services) within the content distribution network100, and may be developed for enterprise use in accordance with variousweb service standards (e.g., the Web Service Interoperability (WS-I)guidelines). For example, some web services may provide secureconnections, authentication, and/or confidentiality throughout thenetwork using technologies such as SSL, TLS, HTTP, HTTPS, WS-Securitystandard (providing secure SOAP messages using XML encryption), etc. Inother examples, the security and integration components 108 may includespecialized hardware, network appliances, and the like (e.g.,hardware-accelerated SSL and HTTPS), possibly installed and configuredbetween servers 102 and other network components, for providing secureweb services, thereby allowing any external devices to communicatedirectly with the specialized hardware, network appliances, etc.

Data Stores (Databases)

Computing environment 100 also may include one or more data stores 110,possibly including and/or residing on one or more back-end servers 112,operating in one or more data centers in one or more physical locations,and communicating with one or more other devices within one or morenetworks 120. In some cases, one or more data stores 110 may reside on anon-transitory storage medium within the server 102. In certainembodiments, data stores 110 and back-end servers 112 may reside in astorage-area network (SAN). Access to the data stores may be limited ordenied based on the processes, user credentials, and/or devicesattempting to interact with the data store.

Computer System

With reference now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of an illustrativecomputer system is shown. The system 200 may correspond to any of thecomputing devices or servers of the network 100, or any other computingdevices described herein. In this example, computer system 200 includesprocessing units 204 that communicate with a number of peripheralsubsystems via a bus subsystem 202. These peripheral subsystems include,for example, a storage subsystem 210, an I/O subsystem 226, and acommunications subsystem 232.

Processors

One or more processing units 204 may be implemented as one or moreintegrated circuits (e.g., a conventional micro-processor ormicrocontroller), and controls the operation of computer system 200.These processors may include single core and/or multicore (e.g., quadcore, hexa-core, octo-core, ten-core, etc.) processors and processorcaches. These processors 204 may execute a variety of resident softwareprocesses embodied in program code, and may maintain multipleconcurrently executing programs or processes. Processor(s) 204 may alsoinclude one or more specialized processors, (e.g., digital signalprocessors (DSPs), outboard, graphics application-specific, and/or otherprocessors).

Buses

Bus subsystem 202 provides a mechanism for intended communicationbetween the various components and subsystems of computer system 200.Although bus subsystem 202 is shown schematically as a single bus,alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilize multiple buses.Bus subsystem 202 may include a memory bus, memory controller,peripheral bus, and/or local bus using any of a variety of busarchitectures (e.g. Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA), Enhanced ISA (EISA), Video Electronics StandardsAssociation (VESA), and/or Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus,possibly implemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard).

Input/Output

I/O subsystem 226 may include device controllers 228 for one or moreuser interface input devices and/or user interface output devices,possibly integrated with the computer system 200 (e.g., integratedaudio/video systems, and/or touchscreen displays), or may be separateperipheral devices which are attachable/detachable from the computersystem 200. Input may include keyboard or mouse input, audio input(e.g., spoken commands), motion sensing, gesture recognition (e.g., eyegestures), etc.

Input

As non-limiting examples, input devices may include a keyboard, pointingdevices (e.g., mouse, trackball, and associated input), touchpads, touchscreens, scroll wheels, click wheels, dials, buttons, switches, keypad,audio input devices, voice command recognition systems, microphones,three dimensional (3D) mice, joysticks, pointing sticks, gamepads,graphic tablets, speakers, digital cameras, digital camcorders, portablemedia players, webcams, image scanners, fingerprint scanners, barcodereaders, 3D scanners, 3D printers, laser rangefinders, eye gaze trackingdevices, medical imaging input devices, MIDI keyboards, digital musicalinstruments, and the like.

Output

In general, use of the term “output device” is intended to include allpossible types of devices and mechanisms for outputting information fromcomputer system 200 to a user or other computer. For example, outputdevices may include one or more display subsystems and/or displaydevices that visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information(e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, flat-panel devices, liquidcrystal display (LCD) or plasma display devices, projection devices,touch screens, etc.), and/or non-visual displays such as audio outputdevices, etc. As non-limiting examples, output devices may include,indicator lights, monitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotivenavigation systems, plotters, voice output devices, modems, etc.

Memory or Storage Media

Computer system 200 may comprise one or more storage subsystems 210,comprising hardware and software components used for storing data andprogram instructions, such as system memory 218 and computer-readablestorage media 216.

System memory 218 and/or computer-readable storage media 216 may storeprogram instructions that are loadable and executable on processor(s)204. For example, system memory 218 may load and execute an operatingsystem 224, program data 222, server applications, client applications220, Internet browsers, mid-tier applications, etc.

System memory 218 may further store data generated during execution ofthese instructions. System memory 218 may be stored in volatile memory(e.g., random access memory (RAM) 212, including static random accessmemory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM)). RAM 212 maycontain data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible toand/or operated and executed by processing units 204.

System memory 218 may also be stored in non-volatile storage drives 214(e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) For example, a basicinput/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help totransfer information between elements within computer system 200 (e.g.,during start-up) may typically be stored in the non-volatile storagedrives 214.

Computer Readable Storage Media

Storage subsystem 210 also may include one or more tangiblecomputer-readable storage media 216 for storing the basic programmingand data constructs that provide the functionality of some embodiments.For example, storage subsystem 210 may include software, programs, codemodules, instructions, etc., that may be executed by a processor 204, inorder to provide the functionality described herein. Data generated fromthe executed software, programs, code, modules, or instructions may bestored within a data storage repository within storage subsystem 210.

Storage subsystem 210 may also include a computer-readable storage mediareader connected to computer-readable storage media 216.Computer-readable storage media 216 may contain program code, orportions of program code. Together and, optionally, in combination withsystem memory 218, computer-readable storage media 216 maycomprehensively represent remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storagedevices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more permanentlycontaining, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readableinformation.

Computer-readable storage media 216 may include any appropriate mediaknown or used in the art, including storage media and communicationmedia, such as but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removableand non-removable media implemented in any method or technology forstorage and/or transmission of information. This can include tangiblecomputer-readable storage media such as RAM, ROM, electronicallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD), or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible computer readablemedia. This can also include nontangible computer-readable media, suchas data signals, data transmissions, or any other medium which can beused to transmit the desired information and which can be accessed bycomputer system 200.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 216 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 216 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 216 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 200.

Communication Interface

Communications subsystem 232 may provide a communication interface fromcomputer system 200 and external computing devices via one or morecommunication networks, including local area networks (LANs), wide areanetworks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), and various wirelesstelecommunications networks. As illustrated in FIG. 2, thecommunications subsystem 232 may include, for example, one or morenetwork interface controllers (NICs) 234, such as Ethernet cards,Asynchronous Transfer Mode NICs, Token Ring NICs, and the like, as wellas one or more wireless communications interfaces 236, such as wirelessnetwork interface controllers (WNICs), wireless network adapters, andthe like. Additionally and/or alternatively, the communicationssubsystem 232 may include one or more modems (telephone, satellite,cable, ISDN), synchronous or asynchronous digital subscriber line (DSL)units, Fire Wire® interfaces, USB® interfaces, and the like.Communications subsystem 236 also may include radio frequency (RF)transceiver components for accessing wireless voice and/or data networks(e.g., using cellular telephone technology, advanced data networktechnology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced data rates for globalevolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family standards, or other mobilecommunication technologies, or any combination thereof), globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver components, and/or other components.

Input Output Streams Etc.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 232 may also receive inputcommunication in the form of structured and/or unstructured data feeds,event streams, event updates, and the like, on behalf of one or moreusers who may use or access computer system 200. For example,communications subsystem 232 may be configured to receive data feeds inreal-time from users of social networks and/or other communicationservices, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/orreal-time updates from one or more third party information sources(e.g., data aggregators). Additionally, communications subsystem 232 maybe configured to receive data in the form of continuous data streams,which may include event streams of real-time events and/or event updates(e.g., sensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools, clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, etc.). Communications subsystem 232 may output suchstructured and/or unstructured data feeds, event streams, event updates,and the like to one or more data stores that may be in communicationwith one or more streaming data source computers coupled to computersystem 200.

Connect Components to System

The various physical components of the communications subsystem 232 maybe detachable components coupled to the computer system 200 via acomputer network, a FireWire® bus, or the like, and/or may be physicallyintegrated onto a motherboard of the computer system 200. Communicationssubsystem 232 also may be implemented in whole or in part by software.

Other Variations

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 200 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or acombination. Further, connection to other computing devices, such asnetwork input/output devices, may be employed. Based on the disclosureand teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the variousembodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user interface 300, displayed on an electronicreader 106, with 1) a viewable portion of visual sections 330 displayedin a main viewing area 320; 2) a viewable portion of thumbnails 340displayed in a content strip tray 310; and 3) an accent effect 350,displayed on the viewable portion of the thumbnails 340, thatcorresponds with the viewable portion of the visual sections 330displayed in the main viewing area 320.

Users of electronic readers 106 have long felt a need to understandtheir “sense of place” within a book. The lack of physical cues, likebook thickness, at-a-glance thumb-through, and visual indicators likedog-eared pages, bookmarks, etc., make it harder to get a sense of wherethe user is in an electronic reader 106. Users also have a hard timeestimating the amount of material remaining to read, as well as the timeit might take to read it. Users desire to be able to quickly jump from acurrent location in an electronic reader 106 to another (and possiblyback again), while keeping track of both spots. The present inventionattempts to solve these problems.

Referring to FIG. 11, a corpus of electronic content may be createdbased on material from any desired source material. As non-limitingexamples, the source material for the corpus of electronic content maybe taken from a book, magazine, journal, or from an electronic database.The corpus of electronic content may comprise any desired types ofcontent. As non-limiting examples, the types of content the corpus ofelectronic content may comprise are text, charts, graphs, images,figures, audio, video, illustrations, animations and/or pictures.

As a specific example, a textbook, or a chapter in the textbook, may bethe source of material for the corpus of electronic content. In apreferred embodiment, the textbook may be broken into a plurality ofvisual sections. Each visual section may comprise the content from achapter or a section within the textbook. Thus, a visual section from along section will be longer than a visual section from a shortersection. This allows each visual section to have a unique length that isproportional and representative of the length of the source material.(Step 1100)

Each visual section may comprise some of the text, charts, graphs,images, figures, audio, video, illustrations and/or pictures from thecorpus of electronic content. The plurality of visual sections arepreferably ordered as they appear in the corpus of electronic contentinto a single contiguous long page, which will typically be too long toview all at once in a user interface 300 of an electronic reader 106.The electronic reader 106 may be the above described client, a personalcomputer with an electronic reader 106 application loaded or a handhelddevice. Electronic versions of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. may beviewed and/or read on the electronic reader 106.

The corpus of electronic content or the plurality of visual sections mayalso be converted into a plurality of thumbnail, where each thumbnailcorresponds to a visual section. Each thumbnail section may be similarin structure, but preferably smaller, than its corresponding visualsection. In some embodiments, each thumbnail may be an exact duplicate,except preferably smaller and optionally, without the functionality, ofits corresponding visual section. A visual section that is longercompared to other visual sections will have a corresponding thumbnailthat is also longer compared to other thumbnails, while a visual sectionthat is shorter compared to other visual sections will have acorresponding thumbnail that is shorter compared to other thumbnails. Asa specific example, a visual section that is twice as long as theaverage length of the plurality of visual sections will have acorresponding thumbnail that is twice as long as the average length ofthe plurality of thumbnails. (Step 1110)

Each thumbnail section may also visually indicate the type of contentand structure of its corresponding visual section. Thus, a visualsection with text and a chart will have a corresponding thumbnail thatcomprises a similar appearing text and chart, only reduced in thehorizontal and the vertical directions.

One or more hardware servers may be used to convert the source materialinto the corpus of electronic content and the one or more hardwareservers may also then convert the corpus of electronic content into theplurality of visual sections and the plurality of thumbnails. Thehardware servers may download the plurality of visual sections and theplurality of thumbnails to an electronic reader 106. In anotherembodiment, the electronic reader 106 may download the corpus ofelectronic content and then convert the corpus of electronic contentinto the plurality of visual sections and the plurality of thumbnails.

The electronic reader 106 may use the user interface 300 to displayinformation to a user. In a preferred embodiment, the user interface 300may comprise a main viewing area 320, for displaying a viewable portionof the plurality of visual sections 330, and a content strip tray 310,for displaying a viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails 340.(Steps 1120 and 1130)

It should be appreciated that only a portion of the plurality of visualsections will typically be viewable in the main viewing area 320, whichmay be referred to as the viewable portion of the visual sections 330.It should also be appreciated that only a portion of the plurality ofthumbnails will typically be viewable in the content strip tray 310,which may be referred to as the viewable portion of the thumbnails 340.Nevertheless, as the thumbnails are preferably smaller, there willtypically be more thumbnail(s) in the viewable portion of the pluralityof thumbnails 340 than visual section(s) in the viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections 330. The viewable portion of the pluralityof visual sections 330 may display less than one, one or more than onevisual section at a time, depending on the length of the visualsection(s) and the size of the main viewing area 320.

The electronic reader 106, when starting to display a new electroniccontent, may display as much of the start of the plurality of visualsections in the main viewing area 320 as will fit in the main viewingarea 320. The electronic reader 106 may also display as much of thestart of the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray 310 aswill fit in the content strip tray 310. The display of the plurality ofvisual sections 330 is synced with the display of the plurality ofthumbnails 340 so that the visual section(s) that are displayed in themain viewing area 320 correspond with a subset of the thumbnail(s) thatare displayed in the content strip tray 310.

The electronic reader 106 may display an accent effect 350 over anaccent portion, within the viewable portion of the plurality ofthumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310, which corresponds to theviewable portion of the plurality of visual sections 330 in the mainviewing area 320. This allows the user, after seeing where the accentportion is in relation to the viewable portion of the thumbnails 340displayed in the content strip tray 310, to get a feel or a sense ofwhere the user is in the source material, the electronic content or theplurality of visual sections. The accent effect 350 may comprisecoloring, an overlay or using any other desired visual effect to showwhere the viewable portion of the visual sections 330 is in relation tothe viewable portion of the thumbnails 340. (Step 1140)

Referring to FIG. 4, as the user changes to a second viewable portion ofthe visual sections 400 in the main viewing area 320, the accent effect350 (now a second accent effect 410) is preferably moved over theviewable portion of the thumbnails 340 (now a second viewable portion ofthe thumbnails 420) to reflect the current visual section(s) that are inthe main viewing area 320.

The user may change which visual section(s) are in the main viewing area320 using any desired technique. As non-limiting examples, the user maydrag, using their finger or a mouse, different portions of the visualsection(s), up or down, into the main viewing area 320. As anotheroption, the user may drag, using their finger or the mouse, differentportions of the thumbnail(s), up or down, into the content strip tray310. As yet another option, the user may select a location within theviewable portion of the thumbnails 340 so that the correspondinglocation within the visual sections is displayed in the main viewingarea 320. Alternatively, the user may use arrow keys to move the visualsection(s) up or down within the main viewing area 320. With eachmovement or change of the viewable portion of the visual section in themain viewing area 320, the accent effect 350 moves over a correspondingportion within the viewable portion of the thumbnails 340.

In another embodiment, the electronic reader 106, may receive a commandfrom the user to change from displaying the viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections 330 in the main viewing area 320 todisplaying a second viewable portion of the plurality of visual sections400 in the main viewing area 320. As a result of receiving this command,the electronic reader 106 may move the accent effect 350 from the accentportion of the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip to a secondaccent portion 410 within the plurality of thumbnails in the contentstrip tray 310 that corresponds to the second viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections 400 in the main viewing area 320.

In another embodiment, the electronic reader 106 may receive a commandfrom the user that resulted from the user dragging the content strip. Asa result of receiving this command, the electronic reader 106 maydisplay a second viewable portion of the plurality of visual sections400 in the main viewing area 320 to the user based on a direction and alength of the dragging the content strip by the user.

Referring to FIG. 5, in another embodiment, at least one thumbnail inthe viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails 340 may be labeledwith a header 500 and the header 500 is preferably never displayed inthe main viewing area 320.

Referring to FIG. 6, in another embodiment, the electronic reader 106may receive a command from the user to add a marker 600 at a location inthe viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails 340 to indicate alocation in the plurality of visual sections. The electronic reader 106may display the marker 600 at the desired location in the viewableportion of the plurality of thumbnails 340, but the marker 600 ispreferably never displayed in the main viewing area 320.

Referring to FIG. 7, in another embodiment, the electronic reader 106may display an assignment 700, over the viewable portion of theplurality of thumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310, to the userindicating an assignment 700 is associated with one of the plurality ofthumbnails in the content strip tray 310. In preferred embodiments, theassignment 700 is never displayed in the main viewing area 320.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, in another embodiment, the electronic reader106 may receive a command to change the width of the content strip tray310 and/or the main viewing area 320. The electronic reader 106 maydisplay the content strip tray 310 and/or the main viewing area 320 withthe new width. In some embodiments, the content strip tray 310 may bemade to as wide as the user interface 300.

Referring to FIG. 10, in another embodiment, the electronic reader 106may display a note 1000 over the viewable portion of the plurality ofthumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310. The note 1000 may havebeen created by a teacher and be associated with one of the plurality ofthumbnails in the content strip tray 310. The note 1000 may be a linkthat, if selected, provides additional information to the user. Inpreferred embodiments, the note 1000 is never displayed in the mainviewing area 320.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a way for readers (users)of an electronic reader 106 to see a visual overview of a book orsection that conveys the length and type of contents, as well as thestructure of the book. The overview may be displayed in a small strip(i.e, a content strip tray 310) associated with a main view of the text(e.g., a page) that synchronizes with view as the user moves from placeto place.

The viewable portion of the thumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310combines information about the book's structure with visualrepresentation of the book's content to produce a series of grouped andlabeled thumbnail images. A user can drag the viewable portion of thethumbnails 340 in the content strip trip to move to different locationswithin the electronic content. In addition, current and/or previouslocations of the user may be indicated in the viewable portion of thethumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310. Additional informationsuch as assigned readings, due dates, completion status may also beindicated, possibly as overlays, on the viewable portion of thethumbnails 340 in the content strip tray 310.

The plurality of thumbnails may be generated by creating thumbnailimages of a book's contents. These images proportionally correspond tothe dimensions of the views of these contents in the main viewing area320. The plurality of thumbnails may be generated at high enoughresolution to show human-readable headers 500, subheaders and other textwhen displayed in an expanded view. Some of these text items may also bereadable even in a contracted (smaller) view.

The plurality of thumbnails may be automatically arranged in visuallydistinct sections of the content strip tray 310. These sections maycorrespond to table-of-contents structures such as chapters, sections,and subsections. The sections of the plurality of thumbnails may belabeled automatically with corresponding text from a table of contents,truncated or otherwise reduced to fit the size of the content strip tray310. These labels may be readable by the user.

The viewable portion of the thumbnails 340 may provide a visualoverview, consisting of thumbnail graphics of a book's contents, and beassembled in a way that corresponds to the book's structure. Thumbnailsmay vary in length to reflect the length of corresponding content. Theviewable portion of the thumbnails 340 may appear at a size small enoughto get a sense of an overview, but with enough detail and resolution toconvey the nature of the content (text, headline, image, video, chart,list, table, etc.).

The plurality of thumbnails may be displayed in a content strip tray310. The content strip tray 310 is preferably in a vertically-orientedarea of a user interface 300 and displayed adjacent to a main viewingarea 320 displaying a viewable portion of the visual sections 330. Thecontent strip tray 310 may have visual demarcations that groupthumbnails by higher-level units. For example, thumbnails 4.1.1 and4.1.2 may appear in a single section of the content strip tray 310,while thumbnails 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 may appear in another section of thecontent strip tray 310.

The content strip tray's sections may be visually distinct from eachother by virtue of their color, shading or size. The structure of thecontent strip tray 310 may be generated from a hierarchical Table ofContents (ToC) listed by means of an algorithm that parses the level aToC item is on.

The various ToC levels are not only used to generate content strip traysections, but may also be used to provide the ToC item's name, orportion thereof, as a label at the top of the content strip traysection, as well as a label for each thumbnail image.

A current location indicator, possibly consisting of a translucentvisual overlay or any other accent effect 350, may be superimposed onthe viewable portion of the thumbnails 340. The size of the accenteffect 350 preferably corresponds to the size of the user's view of theviewable portion of the visual sections 330. In other words, if a useris using a tall screen, the accent effect 350 will be proportionallytaller, spanning more of the underlying thumbnail than a short screenused to view the same content. A phone in landscape mode, for example,would have a shorter indicator. The accent effect 350 may moveautomatically in response to the user's scrolling and navigating tovarious parts of the visual sections in the main viewing area 320. Theuser can also drag the accent effect 350 to drive the main viewing area320 to move to a different second viewable portion of the visualsections 400.

In another embodiment, the user may expand the content strip tray 310 toshow more detail in the viewable portion of the thumbnails 340 and moretext for ToC item labels. In one implementation the content strip tray310 may be expanded to actually become the main content view itself,erasing the distinction between a two-viewing area system. The user maysimply move between a small overview and the “full-sized” text via aseamless expansion or contraction of the content strip tray 310.

In another embodiment, a user may mark a current location to return toit later via a kind of “pinning.” Pinning may attach a visual icon ormark to a place in the content strip tray 310 corresponding to theviewable portion of the visual sections 330. The user may label the pinand the system may add information to the pin (such as nearby textualheadings or content element labels, like an image title, the currentdate/time, or whether the referenced content is part of a readingassignment—and whether or not the due date for that assignment haspassed). Pins may be limited to a small number. New pins beyond thatlimit replace the oldest pin on the “stack.” Pins may also be read anddisplayed by a separate “bookmark” container or list that the user mayaccess from outside the electronic reader 106 itself.

In another embodiment, the content strip tray 310 may automaticallyindicate which sections of a book are part of an assigned reading.Assigned readings may be indicated by a visual mark or icon overlaid onthe strip on the thumbnail or content item name. Users may see moreinformation about the assignment, such as due date, amount left to read,completion status, etc, by interacting with (clicking, tapping, hoveringover) the assigned reading marker or icon in the strip.

In another embodiment, an annotation made by the reader/user or aninstructor may be visually indicated on the viewable portion of thethumbnails 340. A visual mark or icon whose color or shape correspondsto the color or label of the annotation may be placed on or near thelocation where the annotation has been added. The user may click or tapon the annotation icon to display the annotation and its associated textin the main view.

The present invention is convenient, since it may be used withoutleaving the current reading context, and intuitive because it mayprovide a visual mirror-image of a book's contents, along with cleargrouping and labeling of these contents. Being able to see the relativesizes of sections may help users estimate the length of readingassignments. Being able to see the type of content within sections mayalso help the user estimate length and level of effort needed.

Other embodiments and uses of the above inventions will be apparent tothose having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of thespecification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Thespecification and examples given should be considered exemplary only,and it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover any othersuch embodiments or modifications as fall within the true scope of theinvention.

The Abstract accompanying this specification is provided to enable theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally todetermine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of thetechnical disclosure and in no way intended for defining, determining,or limiting the present invention or any of its embodiments.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising a hardware computingdevice coupled to a network and comprising at least one processorexecuting specific computer-executable instructions within a memory,wherein the system is configured to: convert a corpus of electroniccontent into a plurality of contiguous visual sections, wherein eachvisual section, in the plurality of visual sections, has a length, basedon a length of the corresponding visual section in the corpus ofelectronic content, and a type of content and a structure; convert thecorpus of electronic content or the plurality of visual sections into aplurality of contiguous thumbnails that correspond to the plurality ofvisual sections, wherein each thumbnail, in the plurality of thumbnails,is proportional in length to, and visually indicates a type of contentand a structure of, a corresponding visual section, in the plurality ofvisual sections; display in a main viewing area of a user interface onan electronic reader to the user a viewable portion of the plurality ofvisual sections; display in a content strip tray of the user interfaceon the electronic reader to the user a viewable portion of the pluralityof thumbnails; and display an accent effect over an accent portion,within the viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails in thecontent strip tray, wherein the accent portion corresponds to theviewable portion of the plurality of visual sections in the main viewingarea on the electronic reader.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thesystem is further configured to: receive a command from the user tochange from displaying the viewable portion of the plurality of visualsections in the main viewing area to displaying a second viewableportion of the plurality of visual sections in the main viewing area;and move the accent effect from the accent portion of the plurality ofthumbnails in the content strip to a second accent portion within theplurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray, wherein the secondaccent portion within the plurality of thumbnails in the content striptray corresponds to the second viewable portion of the plurality ofvisual sections in the main viewing area.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the system is further configured to: receive a command from theuser that resulted from the user dragging the content strip; and displaya second viewable portion of the plurality of visual sections in themain viewing area to the user, wherein the second viewable portion ofthe plurality of visual sections in the main viewing area is selectedbased on a direction and a length of the dragging of the content stripby the user.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is furtherconfigured to: label at least one thumbnail, in the viewable portion ofthe plurality of thumbnails, with a header, wherein the header is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe system is further configured to: receive a command from the user toadd a marker at a location in the viewable portion of the plurality ofthumbnails to indicate a location in the plurality of visual sections,wherein the marker is never displayed in the main viewing area; anddisplay the marker at the location in the viewable portion of theplurality of thumbnails.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system isfurther configured to: display an assignment, over the viewable portionof the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray, to the userindicating an assignment is associated with one of the plurality ofthumbnails in the content strip tray, wherein the assignment is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe system is further configured to: display a note, over the viewableportion of the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray, to theuser indicating a note, from a teacher, associated with one of theplurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the system is further configured to: receive a commandfrom the user to increase or decrease a width of the content strip trayto a new width; and display the content strip tray having the new widthto the user.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the accent effectindicates the current user location within the viewable portion of theplurality of thumbnails.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the systemis further configured to: receive a command from the user that resultedfrom the user selecting a desired location on a thumbnail, in theplurality of thumbnails, in the content strip tray; and display in themain viewing area a location in the plurality of visual sections thatcorresponds with the selected desired location on the thumbnail in thecontent strip tray.
 11. A method of visually indicating to a userlengths, types of content, structure and current user location within acorpus of electronic content, comprising the steps of: converting thecorpus of electronic content into a plurality of contiguous visualsections, wherein each visual section, in the plurality of visualsections, has a length, based on a length of a corresponding visualsection in the corpus of electronic content, and a type of content and astructure; converting the corpus of electronic content or the pluralityof visual sections into a plurality of contiguous thumbnails thatcorrespond to the plurality of visual sections, wherein each thumbnail,in the plurality of thumbnails, is proportional in length to, andvisually indicates a type of content and a structure of, a correspondingvisual section, in the plurality of visual sections; displaying, by anelectronic reader, in a main viewing area of a user interface to theuser a viewable portion of the plurality of visual sections; displaying,by the electronic reader, in a content strip tray of the user interfaceto the user a viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails; anddisplaying, by the electronic reader, an accent effect over an accentportion, within the viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails inthe content strip tray, wherein the accent portion corresponds to theviewable portion of the plurality of visual sections in the main viewingarea.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:receiving, by the electronic reader, a command from the user to changefrom displaying the viewable portion of the plurality of visual sectionsin the main viewing area to displaying a second viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections in the main viewing area; and moving, bythe electronic reader, the accent effect from the accent portion of theplurality of thumbnails in the content strip to a second accent portionwithin the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray, whereinthe second accent portion within the plurality of thumbnails in thecontent strip tray corresponds to the second viewable portion of theplurality of visual sections in the main viewing area.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising the steps of: receiving, by the electronicreader, a command from the user that resulted from the user dragging thecontent strip; and displaying, by the electronic reader, a secondviewable portion of the plurality of visual sections in the main viewingarea to the user, wherein the second viewable portion of the pluralityof visual sections in the main viewing area is selected based on adirection and a length of the dragging the content strip by the user.14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of: labeling atleast one thumbnail, in the viewable portion of the plurality ofthumbnails, with a header, wherein the header is never displayed in themain viewing area.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising thesteps of: receiving, by the electronic reader, a command from the userto add a marker at a location in the viewable portion of the pluralityof thumbnails to indicate a location in the plurality of visualsections, wherein the marker is never displayed in the main viewingarea; and displaying, by the electronic reader, the marker at thelocation in the viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising the step of: displaying, by theelectronic reader, an assignment, over the viewable portion of theplurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray, to the userindicating an assignment is associated with one of the plurality ofthumbnails in the content strip tray, wherein the assignment is neverdisplayed in the main viewing area.
 17. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the step of: displaying, by the electronic reader, a note,over the viewable portion of the plurality of thumbnails in the contentstrip tray, to the user indicating a note, from a teacher, associatedwith one of the plurality of thumbnails in the content strip tray. 18.The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: receiving, bythe electronic reader, a command from the user to increase or decrease awidth of the content strip tray to a new width; and displaying, by theelectronic reader, the content strip tray having the new width to theuser.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the accent effect indicatesthe current user location within the viewable portion of the pluralityof thumbnails.
 20. The method of claim 11, further comprising the stepsof: receiving, by the electronic reader, a command from the user thatresulted from the user selecting a desired location on a thumbnail, inthe plurality of thumbnails, in the content strip tray; and displaying,by the electronic reader, in the main viewing area a location in theplurality of visual sections that corresponds with the selected desiredlocation on the thumbnail in the content strip tray.